Central Park

April 30, 2012
"In a city where people can live sixty-three thousand to a square mile," Central Park is an escape, adventure, meditation, memory, and amusement, and this anthology, comprising the work of some of New York's literary luminaries, is a charming 21-essay tribute to what "is probably the most closely watched and monitored 843 acres on Earth." Marie Winn pens a funny letter to Holden Caulfield about what happens to the park's ducks in winter; Bill Buford tries sleeping there one night; and Nathaniel Rich gives the sentimental history of an annual Thanksgiving touch-football game (the "Turkey-Lurkey Bowl"). OthersâSusan Cheever, Colson Whitehead, Adam Gopnik, and Paul Auster among themâfish for carp, run past Jackie Kennedy, befriend goats at the zoo, and explore the place "where nature is so beautifully and spectacularly kept on a leash." But it wasn't always so: the masterpiece of Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux was, at times, a "municipal embarrassment," the site of muggings, murders, andârumor had itâ"a nightmarish water fountain that dribbled raw sewage into the mouths of toddlers." It's clear, by the collection's range, that there must be at least as many Central Parks as there are annual visitorsâand that's close to 40 million.

March 15, 2012
A leisurely stroll through the park with some agreeably literary companionship. Though each of the pieces focuses on Central Park, editor and literary agent Blauner (editor: Brothers, 2009, etc.) observes of the millions who consider this their favorite spot in New York, "Ask what all of those people love most about Central Park, and you will almost never get two alike answers. Such is the vastness, the diversity, the wonder of this place that plays so many different roles to so many different kinds of people." Much is made in the selections of the diversity of people drawn to the park, but the voices selected for inclusion make it read something like a special issue of the New Yorker (which has published many of these writers). More than a third of the pieces were previously published, including an excerpt from a novel by Paul Auster, a fable about "The Sixth Borough" by Jonathan Safran Foer, a letter from Wall Street Journal columnist Marie Winn to Holden Caulfield and the title essay from Colson Whitehead's The Colossus of New York. As the writing ranges over decades as well as acres, many of the writers see the park as a microcosm of the city. Adam Gopnik notes, "There is always a new New York coming into being as the old one disappears." Safran Foer: "It's hard for anyone, even the most cynical of cynics, to spend more than a few minutes in Central Park without feeling that he or she is experiencing some tense in addition to the present." There are repeated references to the zoo, to Jackie Onassis jogging, various sports and the occasional mugging, but there are also celebrations of the park as a cultural hub as well as a natural resource. One of the most incisive observations is secondhand, by Andy Warhol as conveyed by Susan Cheever: "It was better to live in the city than the country because in the city he could find a little bit of country, but in the country there was no little bit of city." A good anthology for an afternoon's reading in the park.

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July 1, 2012

Blauner (Blauner Books Literary Agency; editor, Coach: 25 Writers Reflect on People Who Made a Difference) has assembled a collection of 12 new and seven reprinted pieces that explore Central Park in many of its aspects. Here are the Central Park Zoo, amateur football near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, live concerts, an assortment of wildlife, the park at night, and many other evocative scenes. Many of the pieces amount to short personal essays by prominent writers who share their particular memories. A reprinted piece by Jonathan Safran Foer and a new piece by Brooks Hansen are fictional. All of the contributions, from humorous to deeply moving, are worth reading, with descriptions and insights that will be treasured by anyone intrigued by Central Park, no matter their own familiarity. VERDICT Most Central Park books are histories or guidebooks; this volume gives readers a sense of why the park engenders such deep emotions and wonderment in those who enjoy it. Recommended.--Morris Hounion, NYC Technical Coll. Lib, CUNY, Brooklyn

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